This Weekend on Capital Green Scene

Something called white nose syndrome has been killing hundreds of thousands of bats across the northeast since it was first found in an Albany County cave in 2007.

State Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist Al Hicks, who has studied the state’s bats for more than three decades, will talk about white nose syndrome, and the recent results of bat counts that show bat populations could be down by 90 percent.

The syndrome is linked to a white fuzzy fungus that is found on the snouts of afflicted bats. For reasons not yet clear, such bats have insufficient fat reserves to hibernate in caves during the winter. Roused by starvation, bats are waking up early and leaving their caves in a fruitless search for insects to eat. They end up dying in the cold.

Capital Green Scene airs at 11 a.m. Saturdays on 88.3-FM (The Saint-WVCR) from its studios on the Loudonville campus of Siena College.

Co-blogger Bill Helmer and I share the mike. The broadcast also streams live over the Internet. And, WVCR has also started to podcast select episodes of the show, which will be downloadable to a mobile device.